Rx400h Supply?

[JasonATL]

I bought my black 400h in Roswell (Atlanta suburb) two weeks ago. I put a deposit on it in May or June '04, at which time I was told I was 35th on the list.

The sales person called me in early April, asked my color preference. I told him I wasn't sure, but would like to test drive the demo when it came in and chose a color then. Never heard from him again.

So, in late May, I set up an appt to go in and drive one. He asked what color I wanted and said, depending on color, it would be 2 to 6 weeks. Then he said, we have this black one. If you want black, it is yours. I was thinking of the flint mica or the dark blue (not sure of the name), but I love this car in black. So, I took it.

I went in to the same dealership today. They had three on the lot: dark blue (which is pretty, but I'm glad I didn't wait for it), and two of the light-tan colors (which are very pretty IMO, but I prefer darker colors). They were on the regular lot out front, so I assume they are available.

I wasn't expecting to be in my 400h until July, so I'm quite happy. However, I wonder if the demand simply didn't measure up to expectations or if the supply is that good?

After 1,000 miles, I have yet to see another 400h on the road in the Atlanta area.

[wwest]

I was told recently that many salesmen "doctored" the preorder list, if you expressed any interest at all you were put on the list. Apparently a way for them, traditionally, to be sure of high allocations on a desireable model.

Methinks they overdid it just a bit.

[RX400h]

Lexus(Toyota) mentioned many times that the primary reason for the delay of first shipments of the 400hs would be due to insuring ample supplies so that a repeat of the Prius fiasco did not happen. I had a feeling that there would be plenty to go around after the first couple of months. Unlike the intro of other vehicles, though, pricing is not changing with the number of vehicles on the lot. This makes it a bit more comforting to know that the reward of getting one of the first after such a long wait did NOT give way to the heartbreak of seeing invoice+ pricing given to buyers a short time later.

[ultra63]

Dealers are now discounting off MRSP for ones they have on their lots in my area. I got close to $2000 off a bamboo RX400h. I guess supply is = demand now.

[msrc2]

I just picked up my RX400 from a suburban Atlanta dealerabout a week ago. I put my deposit down in late May 2005. Delivery was about 1 month later. Black/Black with all available options, plus some dealer installed accessories. Currently they have 1 demo on the lot, but NONE for walk-in sales.

Dealer link:: http://www.lexusgwinnett.com/index.html

[ultra63]

I guess all the Rx400's for sale are in LA and TX where they are happy to discount them. Wonder if BUY MY WAITLIST POSITION FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY (Lexus : RX) (Reserve Not Met)-$8000 on ebay is real. It is in L.A. not LA.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

[dreamchaserflorida]

I guess all the Rx400's for sale are in LA and TX where they are happy to discount them. Wonder if BUY MY WAITLIST POSITION FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY (Lexus : RX)  (Reserve Not Met)-$8000  on ebay is real. It is in L.A. not LA.

  http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

←

In most of the hybrid Forums, people who try to sell their place on WaitLists are not viewed positively. I suppose there might be a few Buyers who might bid on this but to me, the offer is in very poor taste generated by greed IF the offer is for monetary reimbursement. It is worse than a dealership's premium add-on procedure to take advantage of the market.

I still am high on a Highlander Hybrid waitlist with a $500 deposit but would not try to "sell" my place even though I probably will not use it. My situation has changed since I now have the Lexus RX 400h. If I decide to not buy another hybrid such as the HH, I will get off the HH WaitList to give the next person in line a chance to buy.

[katzjamr]

Its sunday afternoon and i just came from a toyota dealership where i visited with a salesperson for a non auto related issue, and i asked him if he had any Highlander Hybrids for sale. Sure enough they had a sliver, limited that they were selling over sticker for 46K, he said they were in such short supply that they had to pay 'retail for it from another dealer' whatever that means. If Highlanders can sell at just 5K below a 400h, it makes me feel better about spending the extra for the Lexus.

[400h4me]

I'm opening this thread for people to post FIRST HAND information they have on the rx400 supply, e.g., from personal dealer visits. So, if you have been to a dealer recently, please post any info you may have gathered!

I'm kinda thinking the rx400h supply is not as bad as the dealers are trying to suggest... I was at Longo lexus in So. Cal today. I saw at least 12 rx400h's in the garage downstairs, and maybe 4 more scattered about the other lots. Estimating that they had a few more I didn't see (I didn't do an exhaustive search), I would guess they have about 15-20 on the premises. I was expecting to show up and see a couple at most!

They are a large lexus dealer - the salesperson said the largest in the western US. (Where in the entire US would they sell more lexi than in so cal?? I don't know!)

Salesperson explained that most of these cars are already bought, which I believe. But, how long will a new rx400h hang around before it's picked up by the owner - I bet not more than a week or so (just guessing). So that implies there is a decent throughput of cars for there to be 20 there at any one time.

Dealer also offered me one rx400 on the spot - ugly color combination though. I believe he also had a gold one, not sure.  I did order a particular color/options combination, and got other hints that other color/option combinations (that I didn't want) were available with no wait or a short wait.

So... I agreed to pay sticker price, but my gut feeling was that perhaps people won't have to pay sticker price for too many months longer, particularly if you are not picky on color, etc. and shop around dealers. After the wait is gone, the next thing to give has to be the price. As it is, I am only waiting 3 wks for exactly the car I wanted... maybe I got lucky, but maybe not! (Hence my request for more first hand info!)

Anybody else have a count of specific numbers of rx400h's at specific dealer lots? Be as specific as possible on your info.

HINT: you can quickly distinguish the rx400h from the rx330 from the front by the foglights: rx400h has 2 circular foglights, rx330 has (roughly) rectangular ones.

Happy shopping...

P.S. Oh: also, if you think you are on the "waiting list" at the dealer: I get the feeling that it's VERY fuzzy. I get the feeling that there is essentially no strict list. I suspect that if you ordered a car, you will get that specific car; however, if someone who ordered a car cancels, that car does not go in a "fair" way to the next person on the list that matches the same car. Basically, I think the orphaned cars skip all the people on the list, and the dealers use those cars to sign up new people by promising a short wait. So, customers may be satisfied out of order, but in the end the total number of people agreeing to pay full sticker price is larger.

←

As of today (8-7) Mission Viejo Lexus in Southern Calif listed an inventory of 9 RX400h's online. I didn't call them directly to verify this, but their was a toll-free number listed. Anyone in the L.A. area.....this could be the answer to the wait list. I live 488 miles from this dealer so I won't be running down there anytime soon. Meanwhile I'm checking local dealer in my area!

[uthorns1976]

Its sunday afternoon and i just came from a toyota dealership where i visited with a salesperson for a non auto related issue, and i asked him if he had any Highlander Hybrids for sale.  Sure enough they had a sliver, limited that they were selling over sticker for 46K, he said they were in such short supply that they had to pay 'retail for it from another dealer' whatever that means.  If Highlanders can sell at just 5K below a 400h, it makes me feel better about spending the extra for the Lexus.

←

"pay retail for it from another dealer" means they supposedly purchased the car from another dealer at the sticker price or something like that. Sounds like they're b.s.ing people to try to inflate the selling price. :chairshot:

I know that in the GM world, dealers often "buy" cars from other dealers but they certainly don't "pay retail." When a dealer buys a vehicle from another dealer to satisfy a customer request, they don't make as much on that vehicle because I don't think they get the "holdback" on the vehicle. I think the other dealer gets it.

[uthorns1976]

I guess all the Rx400's for sale are in LA and TX where they are happy to discount them. Wonder if BUY MY WAITLIST POSITION FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY (Lexus : RX)  (Reserve Not Met)-$8000  on ebay is real. It is in L.A. not LA.

  http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...TRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

←

In most of the hybrid Forums, people who try to sell their place on WaitLists are not viewed positively. I suppose there might be a few Buyers who might bid on this but to me, the offer is in very poor taste generated by greed IF the offer is for monetary reimbursement. It is worse than a dealership's premium add-on procedure to take advantage of the market.

I still am high on a Highlander Hybrid waitlist with a $500 deposit but would not try to "sell" my place even though I probably will not use it. My situation has changed since I now have the Lexus RX 400h. If I decide to not buy another hybrid such as the HH, I will get off the HH WaitList to give the next person in line a chance to buy.

←

I don't recall seeing any of the 400h auctions on ebay that ended with anything other than "Reserve not met." That includes the "position" auctions.

I wonder if a Lexus dealer would actually give someone's position to someone else based on that position being "sold" to the other person????

[400h4me]

I'm opening this thread for people to post FIRST HAND information they have on the rx400 supply, e.g., from personal dealer visits. So, if you have been to a dealer recently, please post any info you may have gathered!

I'm kinda thinking the rx400h supply is not as bad as the dealers are trying to suggest... I was at Longo lexus in So. Cal today. I saw at least 12 rx400h's in the garage downstairs, and maybe 4 more scattered about the other lots. Estimating that they had a few more I didn't see (I didn't do an exhaustive search), I would guess they have about 15-20 on the premises. I was expecting to show up and see a couple at most!

They are a large lexus dealer - the salesperson said the largest in the western US. (Where in the entire US would they sell more lexi than in so cal?? I don't know!)

Salesperson explained that most of these cars are already bought, which I believe. But, how long will a new rx400h hang around before it's picked up by the owner - I bet not more than a week or so (just guessing). So that implies there is a decent throughput of cars for there to be 20 there at any one time.

Dealer also offered me one rx400 on the spot - ugly color combination though. I believe he also had a gold one, not sure.  I did order a particular color/options combination, and got other hints that other color/option combinations (that I didn't want) were available with no wait or a short wait.

So... I agreed to pay sticker price, but my gut feeling was that perhaps people won't have to pay sticker price for too many months longer, particularly if you are not picky on color, etc. and shop around dealers. After the wait is gone, the next thing to give has to be the price. As it is, I am only waiting 3 wks for exactly the car I wanted... maybe I got lucky, but maybe not! (Hence my request for more first hand info!)

Anybody else have a count of specific numbers of rx400h's at specific dealer lots? Be as specific as possible on your info.

HINT: you can quickly distinguish the rx400h from the rx330 from the front by the foglights: rx400h has 2 circular foglights, rx330 has (roughly) rectangular ones.

Happy shopping...

P.S. Oh: also, if you think you are on the "waiting list" at the dealer: I get the feeling that it's VERY fuzzy. I get the feeling that there is essentially no strict list. I suspect that if you ordered a car, you will get that specific car; however, if someone who ordered a car cancels, that car does not go in a "fair" way to the next person on the list that matches the same car. Basically, I think the orphaned cars skip all the people on the list, and the dealers use those cars to sign up new people by promising a short wait. So, customers may be satisfied out of order, but in the end the total number of people agreeing to pay full sticker price is larger.

←

After checking Auto Trader.Com I was surprised to find two dealers in Southern California listing many RX400h cars for sale. The ad states these car are available now for quick delivery. They list many colors and interior choices with the options you want. Guess what? This is all BS because after calling them and sending E-mails you now hear a different story. They now say that these cars have been ordered and will arrive any day now so please come in and talk with a salesperson if your serious. In other words you can get in line like all the other folks and be put on a waiting list. What's the point...it's just as easy to hang in there with my local dealer. I think Lexus is not handling this problem with letting the dealers know exactly when these cars are coming in for delivery. If you call customer service at the Lexus main office and ask questions they don't have any new information for you either! I guess if you only supply a few at a time you can keep the price at MSRP forever. What happened to the days when you ordered your car and were contacted by the factory telling you exactly when your car was to be built and you were invited to view the actual building of your car? :)

[LexRexBlue]

I feel your frustration. I had it, too. I had been on the list for 14 months before getting my car. I even test drove the 400h the day the first one arrived at the dealer. However, it wasn't just a car, I could have had one in a different color. At the height of my frustration I called every Lexus dealer in the state of NJ. Despite some of their ads, nobody really had one or expected one for at least a month later. I stuck with my original dealer, have my car, and have been delighted. To make you feel better, I was told that the very first ones that came in didn't drive too well! Ironically, I ordered the Neptune Blue and so did a zillion other people in my area. When you look around town what do you see? Those Neptune blues. When you look at the local inventory, the Neptune blues are gone! Lexus should have built more.